


Drowning

by professor_dumbledore



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: (in feelings), D: Drowning, Drabble, Falling In Love, Forbidden Love, M/M, POV Albus Dumbledore, Pre-Slash, Scamandore ABC Drabble Challenge, Teacher/Student
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-11-01 08:27:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17863862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/professor_dumbledore/pseuds/professor_dumbledore
Summary: Albus always had an academic interest for Newt and his potential, but this interest soon grows to more after Newt's fifth year.And before Albus knows it, he's drowning in feelings for his student.





	Drowning

Newt Scamander was quite probably the most promising student Albus Dumbledore had met through his career. Truly, the young wizard impressed Albus, even if he didn't seem to impress the other teachers as much, or even his peers. Quickly, the professor had seen how Newt seemed to be more of an outsider, spending up to five years mostly alone, and Albus couldn’t understand for the life of him why.

During Newt's fifth year, Albus thus took it upon him to teach him more. He would have done the same for any student who showed great promise, of course, but Newt Scamander was different. Special. Albus wished to be there for him, since his peers seemed to take no interest in associating themselves with the young Hufflepuff. Albus thus began with asking Newt to stay after class when the time was right, and he showed interest in him, in what intrigued him. It did not take long for Albus to learn the young wizard's interest in magical creatures, and although this was not exactly Albus' greatest field of knowledge, he found Newt's interest fascinating.

Albus provided him with more information on what interested Newt, even going as far as retrieving books from the restricted section for him. Unfortunately, magical creatures in the wizarding world were too often cast away, used, or killed—and seen as merely objects to be used by wizards. It was devastating, but it wasn't until Albus saw these creatures through Newt's eyes that he noticed how truly beautiful they were. It wasn't like he had any prejudice towards them to begin with, but the professor had been more or less…indifferent? In the end, Newt had actually helped him grow instead of the other way around, and the older wizard was truly astonished.

With time, however, Albus found himself looking less at the books, less at the lessons he was giving, and more at Newt. The little smiles he would make when he read something he liked, or something new. The proud expression when he mastered a spell Albus had taught him. The way he looked at him when he was unsure or even when he was, his eyes seeking for his approval.

It had been only a matter of time before Albus thought of how endearing Newt was, and before he knew it, he had fallen.

He gazed at him too often, and every time Newt caught his gaze, his expression made him smile. The slight yet obvious blush, and the way he would look down afterwards, hiding the faintest hint of a smile. Albus craved it more than he could let on, but he knew he had to leave it at that. Gazes. He could not give him more.

It was by the time Newt had reached his sixth year that Albus had allowed himself a touch. It was faint, really, only a small touch on his back when he had greeted him back in Hogwarts. Perhaps it had been because he had missed him too much over the summer, or perhaps because he liked to pretend he had forgotten this was something he promised himself he would not do.

And before he knew it, he did it all the more. It went gradually, from a hand on his back to a stroke on his back, from a hand on his shoulder to a squeeze of his shoulder, and before he knew it, he was even standing up to guide Newt’s stance when casting a new spell, something he did with no one else. He was being too obvious, and for a moment he cared not.

It was only when he felt he had truly crossed a line that he realized he had let this go too far. The few touches he had allowed himself could be excusable, could be seen as friendly, but that night, when Newt was reading over a new book Albus had been able to find, Albus' hand had travelled further up than it usually had.

Indeed, Albus had absentmindedly rested his hand on Newt’s back, and when his student didn’t move, he didn’t either. His head was resting on his other hand as he simply watched Newt taking notes and reading further, and as the time went by, Albus’ hand slowly moved up and down, until it reached Newt’s neck. Now, this was the first time Albus directly touched Newt’s skin, and he felt intoxicated. It should have burned him, told him that this was too much, that he should move away, but instead, he had left his hand there, his thumb slowly brushing against his soft skin.   
  
It took him far too long to realize what he had done. This particular touch could not be interpreted as friendly.

Before, Albus had been swimming in dangerous waters, but now? Now, he was drowning.


End file.
